Sawmill workers' advocate Joe Harawira dies

The trade union movement is mourning the loss of a man who battled for 30 years on behalf of former sawmill workers who were exposed to dangerous chemicals on the job.

Sawmill Workers Against Poisons co-ordinator Joe Harawira at the Ngāti Awa Community Health Centre in June 2016. Photo: RNZ/Ian Telfer

Joe Harawira, who was in his early 70s, was a former sawmill worker himself - and fought tirelessly for recognition of the health effects on those exposed to the chemicals.

He recovered slowly from near-total paralysis in the mid 1990s, which he was sure came from toxic chemical poisoning at the old Whakatane Mill, where he worked for 29 years.

"Joe was relentless in his pursuit for justice for ex-sawmill workers who were exposed to pentachlorophenol (PCP), a deadly chemical used in New Zealand timber processing for years," Māori Party co-leader Te Ururoa Flavell said.

Former sawmill workers exposed to the dioxin PCP have been told they can have a free annual health check but the Ministry of Health says it can't justify funding tests to determine damage to DNA. Audio